


13 Ways to Fall in Love

by ms__sarcastic



Category: Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-22
Updated: 2020-07-22
Packaged: 2021-03-05 03:40:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,407
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25447795
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ms__sarcastic/pseuds/ms__sarcastic
Summary: When Peter, your average dating dude, gets lucky on Tinder dates, but unlucky in love, he enlists his friends to help him with his problem.So when they come up with a list of 13 ways to fall in love, Peter sets out to see if they lead him to true love. Simple, right?Based on the BuzzFeed video of the same name.
Relationships: Betty Brant/Ned Leeds, Michelle Jones/Peter Parker, Ned Leeds & Peter Parker
Kudos: 15





	13 Ways to Fall in Love

"I can't do it anymore," Peter said, after recounting his past Tinder encounters to his friends. Currently, they were at their regular bar having a beer like they do every Friday. It had become their little ritual once they graduated from college to still keep in touch and be involved in each other's lives.

"Peter, you don't have to sleep with every Tinder date that's willing," Betty reprimanded. Always the level headed mature on of the group, Peter could always count on her to be the voice of reason.

"I know, I know," Peter sighed. "But I want to stay in sex shape so I'm really good when I meet someone I love."

"Sex shape?" MJ questioned, slightly disgusted.

"No I get it," Flash agreed. "You know, like well-practiced."

"Exactly," Peter said.

MJ and Betty shared a look across the table. The fact that Peter and Flash actually agreed on something was quite disturbing.

"Every time I log onto Facebook, someone's either engaged or married or having babies." Peter ranted. "How hard could it be to fall in love?"

"There's gotta be like a million ways to fall in love," Flash said.

Betty scoffed. "Twelve max."

"Name them," Peter asked.

"A grocery store, bookstore, dildo store-" Flash began.

"You're just listing places," Betty interrupted. "Those are chance encounters, not ways to fall in love."

"Chance encounters," MJ pointed out. "That's one."

"Someone have a pen?" Peter asked.

"Yeah," a random waiter said, handing him a pen. Peter accepted and wrote 1. chance encounters on a semi dirty napkin.

"Yeah, but isn't everything a chance encounter?" Ned asked, cluelessly.

Betty elbowed him in the ribs. "You're not helping."

"Yeah but isn't it?" Ned asked.

Peter let out a sigh. "So I just fall in love by chance at random place of commerce?" Somehow that didn't seem like a good plan to him. Too many variables.

Betty rolled her eyes. "No, you'll go to these locations where you're more likely to have chance encounters."

Peter furrowed his brows. "Like where?

"Laundromat, bus stop, dildo store?" Flash offered.

Peter cut him off. "Okay, okay, whats next?

MJ spoke up . "Two: Online Dating."

Peter sighed. "Tried that." The last girl he went out with clearly said she wasn't on Tinder looking for love.

"My mom said my dad got her to go out with him while she was working as a waitress," Ned said, sipping from his beer. " Every day he would come in and ask her out."

MJ drank from her own drink. "Persistence. That's three." Peter wrote it down.

Flash, having drank more than anyone else, was starting to get past the point of tipsy to drink. Drunk Flash had no filter. He looked at Peter. "You and MJ used to date. Were you guys like, you know, in love?

MJ felt her cheeks burn at Flash's question. He really had no tact. "I don't want to talk about it."  
Truth was, she did want to talk about it. Just not with the group. Peter and her had never really spoken about the breakup. They had met in the campus library when he made some cheesy joke about the periodic table. They dated for a short while and it ended as quickly as it began.

Peter tried to hide his matching red face. "You know, college."

MJ and Peter both took awkward sips from their drinks, avoiding everyone's eyes and especially each other's.

Betty felt the tension in the air and decided to diffuse it. "Ned and I met at the daily bugle. I was an intern with a fresh out of high school drive and everytime I walked by his desk, he had a compliment for me. So we started taking our breaks together. Kept waiting for him to ask me out, and he never did. So I asked him to go to to see Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker."

Ned looked at her with a goofy grin. " I love those movies."

Betty smiled. "Yeah, yeah. I know you do."  
Peter wrote work on his list.

The waiter appeared beside their table. "Would we like more drinks?"

MJ spoke for the group, "No thanks."

Of course, Flash being Flash ignored them. "Shots."

MJ shot him a glare. " No."

5 shots later

"So bear with me," Flash said, the alcohol clearly starting to take control. "Cheating with somebody and then it tuns real."

Everyone looked at him like he was crazy.

MJ scoffed. "That doesn't happen."

Ned modded. "How do you even trust each other afterward?"

Flashed leaned in conspiratorially. "Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt were, you know, getting together while he was with Jennifer Aniston."

"Didn't they get divorced?" Ned asked.

Flash chuckled. The group looked at him expectantly.

"No, really."

Realization struck him. "Huh? No."

"Fine, whatever , cheating turned real." Peter wrote it down.

"My uncle had an arranged marriage, "MJ said.

Betty frowned. "Is that really love, though?

MJ sighed. "I guess its kind of like stockholm syndrome, except my uncle's a pretty nice guy."

"Arranged marriage is six," Peter wrote down. "Stockholm syndrome is seven. So I just need to find a captive and hope they fall in love with me

"The beauty and the beast method," Betty quipped.

Ned almost spilled his drink. "Oh my god, she fell in love with her captor."

Flash stared at his glass wistfully, a sure sign that he was drunk. "I was having sex with this guy once for a few months. We'd known each other for a while, and one day after this particularly strenuous session, he says that he thinks he loves me. And at the time I didnt wanna bone anybody else, so I thought I loved him too."

Peter wrote down friends with benefits on his napkin Flash was pulled from hus stupor by teh waiter grabbing the empty glass from his hand.

MJ spoke up. "What about love at first sight?"

Peter wrote it down. "Cliched but fun."

Ned smirked at him. "Highschool sweethearts."

Peter rolled his eyes but netehrtheless wrote it down.

"You could get set up by friends," MJ offered.

"And thank you all, by the way, for the numerous setups you keep volunteering," Peter said.

Flash frowned. "You told my friend Cindy you thought she was poor."

"I didn't say she was poor, I said she was missing out on our company's 401k match," Peter said defensively

"What about like a reality tv show?" Flash said.

Ned downed the rest of his beer. "What about shared pain?"

Peter furrowed his brow. "Pain?

Betty swore under her breath. "Shit. That's dark"

Peter sighed and wrote it down. "I'll allow it. Grief is 13."

"Thats it right?" Betty asked.

Peter looked around at his friends expectantly. "Is there anything else?

no one said a word, all in several states of intoxication.

Their wiator suddenly appears beside Peter. "Hey wrap this shit up. We closed like 20 minutes ago."

"Oh shoot, sorry."

"Oh ok."

"Do you take checks?"

Peter looked to MJ. "Walk you home?"

MJ smiled. "Sure. "

Betty sleepily placed her head on Ned's choulder. Everyone grabbed their stuff and walked outside of teh bar. MJ and Peter walked towards the subway together. Neither of them spoke a word, Peter's head too busy thinking about teh napkin in his pocket. He was very much buzzed and just wanted to go home. They sat down beside each other, MJ pulling out a book and Peter staring off into space. 

The subway train slowed down, reaching MJ's stop. They granned their stuff and hopped off the train. Peter had made it a habit to accompany MJ home since her aprtment was not in the best neighborhood

As they were walking, MJ spoke up. "So now what?"

"Now what what?" Peter asked, looking at his phone."

"You know all 13 ways you can fall in love. What now?" They came up to her apartment door and MJ looked for her keys in her bag.

"I guess I just have to try them out."

MJ finally found her keys and unlocked her door. She stepped inside and turned to face Peter. "And if none of them work?"

"Wanna get hitched for convenience?"

MJ smirked and flipped him off. "Fuck off."

Peter chuckled as she closed the door in his face. He began walking towards the subway to go home and hopefully sleep off the alcohol in his system, all thoughts of his list long forgotten. 


End file.
